@nicknorwitz @realDaveFeldman @KenDBerryMD @PrevMedHealth @realfoodcures Keto diet fans might not like this reality, but the Metabolic Vulnerability Index (MVX) patent actually allows versions of the score that include ketone bodies in the formula — even though the MVX used in real‑world lab tests today is a six‑marker model with no ketones built in. Most people only see MVX as a number on a Labcorp report and never look “under the hood.” But if you go back to the intellectual property that underpins MVX, there’s an important nuance that no one in the low‑carb/keto world is talking about.
In the patent “Multi‑parameter metabolic vulnerability index evaluations” (WO2019051226A1), the inventors describe different ways to build one of the components of MVX, called MMX (metabolic malnutrition index). In some of those patent embodiments, MMX can explicitly include ketone bodies (such as beta‑hydroxybutyrate or acetoacetate) as mathematical inputs. Since MVX is constructed from MMX plus an inflammation score (IVX), any ketone‑inclusive MMX automatically makes MVX partly driven by ketone levels as well.
So at the patent level, ketones were clearly considered as potential model components. The inventors thought about ketone bodies as a candidate signal for metabolic vulnerability and wrote that option into the IP. Here’s the twist: that’s not the MVX that is being used in clinical practice.
The MVX in Labcorp’s MVX Plus test and in published outcome studies is a six‑marker implementation using GlycA, small HDL particles, three branched‑chain amino acids, and citrate — with no ketone bodies inside the IVX, MMX, or MVX formulas themselves. I wonder how may Keto-LMHR folk are metabolically vulnerable with fasting insulin <5 and great HbA1c? Then again, I seriously doubt any of them will understand the question. Bill Cromwell had the patience of a saint trying to get the KetoCon folk to understand what he was saying about MVX in 2024. Thankfully, Tom Dayspring is now profiling this important longevity test so the grown-ups can analyze it. The LMHRers are still crying that the MVX researchers didn't include their pet favorite biomarkers.
patents.google.com/patent/WO20190…